The Highland District Hospital Surgery Department celebrated its first surgical case in its newly expanded surgical suites on Monday, Feb. 17, making it onestep closer to finalizing Building Expansion Project 2020.
Featuring all new state of the art equipment, the doors to the newly expanded and renovated space swung open to HDH Chief of Surgery Dr. Brian Jolitz, who performed the first procedure.
“It is a very exciting time for our organization. These new surgical suites bring advanced capabilities and technologies to our highly qualified surgical staff that we’ve not had before,” said Jolitz. “The enhancements benefit our patients and community in many ways. We can now expand our surgical scope for patients needing services we once had to send to other facilities.”
Since construction started in this area in fall 2018, the excitement of future possibilities and growing surgical services at Highland District Hospital has been building. Tim Parry, vice president of operations, said, “The technological advancements we’ve made in the surgery area is a great asset for acquiring specialty surgeons for our community. This investment is a promise to our community to do our part in providing exceptional, local care.”
The technological advancements included in the upgraded surgical suites stand second to none, the hospital said in a news release, beginning with the Steris Boom System, which allows for a more efficient room setup and better visualization for the surgeons and their team.
“Everything needed for the patient-including multiple high definition monitors is housed in a unit that is mobile, moving around the patient with ease and in a greater span of movement than previously had with individually-housed, portable towers that were moved as needed,” said Joy Bates, surgery department manager.
Additionally, the surgical suites now include the Stryker Video System with 4K technology. This allows for optimal visualization during endoscopic procedures and offers the capabilities for fluorescence imaging which allows surgeons to better see critical structures during procedures. Although these surgical suites are fully state-of-the-art, the capability for growth was considered as the Steris Integration of technologies allows for up to 8K capabilities as technology advances in the future.
Enhancing the tools of the Steris Boom System and the Stryker Video System are also optimal LED lighting and more spacious suites which give the surgeons and surgery team enhanced room for ease of movement during procedures.
HDH President and CEO Randal Lennartz said, “We knew our surgical team was exceptional. They now have a space that pairs with their expert capabilities and rivals surgery departments throughout the nation. This is unprecedented in most critical access hospitals.”
The Highland District Hospital Surgery Department is now fully operational and scheduling surgeries daily. Building Expansion Project 2020 is still on track to be completed by fall of this year.
Submitted by Ashley Cheesbro, Highland District Hospital.
